InformationWeek: Barnes & Noble is spinning off its Nook e-reader business, and Microsoft plans to invest $300 million in the new company, which will be known as Newco for the time being. That will give the software giant a 17.6 percent share in the business. As part of the deal, Microsoft also plans to bundle the Nook software with Windows 8.

Observers say the agreement is somewhat surprising given that the two companies have been involved in a bitter patent dispute for some time.